Electricity

- a form of energy resulting from the

existence of charged particles (such as
electrons or protons), Understanding of
electricity originates inside the atom itself.
- All material objects are composed of
atoms, the smallest particle of an element .
- An atom consists of a nucleus and a wide
area of space outside the nucleus. Electrons ,
a negative charged particle , occupy the outer
region of the atom.
- Electrons are weakly bound to the atom.
It is often removed from and added to an
atom by everyday occurrences .
- The nucleus , the center of the atom
contains protons, which are positively
charged, and neutrons, which have no net
electric charge. Because the nucleus of an
atom is held firmly in a place inside a solid ,
protons never move from one material to
another.
A simplified model of an atom shows it as
having a tiny but massive, positively charged
nucleus surrounded by one or more
negatively charged electrons .
Electric charge
- is a basic property of matter carried by
some elementary particles.
Unit :
coulomb (amount of charge transferred by
one ampère of current in one second ).
Types of Charges
1. Positive Charges – charge possesses by
protons
2. Negative Charges – charges possesses by
electrons
Neutral - does not refer to a third type of
charge, but to the presence in a region of
positive and negative charges in equal
amount.
Electrons > Protons – atom has a
negative charge (negative electric polarity )
Electrons < Protons – atom has a
positive charge (positive electric polarity )
Electrons = Protons – neutral atoms

- 1 gram of matter contains 1023

positively charged protons and just as many
negative charged electrons

Protons

Electric Charge Mass ( kg )

protons 1.60 x 10
−19
1.67 x 10
−31

electron −1.60 x 10
−19
9.1 x 10
−31

- An
atom may lose one or more of its electrons, or Neutrons 0 1.67 x 10
−27

may gain extra electrons, in which case it will

have a net positive or negative charge and is
called an ion.

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Interaction Between Charged and Neutral - one of the materials give electrons and
Objects the other material take electrons.
- material losing electron is positively
1.Repulsive charged and material gaining electron is
- the interaction between two like- negatively charged. amount of gained and lost
charged objects. electron is equal to each other.
2. Attractive
- the interaction between two oppositely To distinguish what object will gain or lose
charged objects and between a charged object electrons , the triboeectric series is use .
and a neutral object.

Type of materials base on their ability to

transfer charge

1. Conductors
- are materials that permit electrons to
flow freely from particle to particle.

Examples :
copper, aluminum, silver, iron, carbon
and water

2. Insulators
- are materials in which all of the
electrons are bound to atoms which prevents
the free flow of electrons from atom to atom .
Examples:
plastics, Styrofoam, paper, rubber, glass
and dry air.
3. Semiconductors
- materials behave in between a
conductor and an insulator. Material that
conducts current, but only partly.
Example :
Silicon and Germanium

CHARGING
- The process of supplying the electric
charge (electrons) to an object or losing the
electric charge (electrons) from an object.
Methods of Charging
1. Charging by friction ( charging by
rubbing ) “ Triboelectric Charging “ or
electrification by friction.
- when two objects come into contact
and move past each other, rubbing of two
objects
Triboelectric series
- list that ranks materials according to
their tendency to gain or lose electrons.
- materials are ranked from high to low in
terms of the tendency for the material to
acquire a positive charge.
- items that is higher will lose electrons and
become positive and the one that is lower
down will become gain electrons and become
negative .
- The further away two materials are from
each other on the series, the greater the
charge transferred. Materials next to each

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other on the series might not become charged
at all when they are brought in contact with
one another. Materials in the middle of the
list (steel and wood, for example) are items
that do not have a strong tendency to give up
or accept electrons.
Example :
When you rub glass rod to a silk, glass
rod lose electron and becomes positively
charged and silk gain electron and becomes
negatively charged.
2. Charging by Conduction
( Charging by contact )
- the process of charging the uncharged
object by bringing it in contact with another
charged object. Electrons flow from that high
concentration to a low concentration .
Example :
A negatively charged object comes
into contact with a neutral electroscope . The
object represents the high concentration and
the electroscope represents the low
concentration. Charging by conduction , the
electrons from the high concentration go to
the low concentration. The object loses
electrons and the electroscope gain electrons
which makes it negatively charged .
Before Conduction After Conduction
A positively charged object comes into
contact with a neutral electroscope . The
object represents the low concentration and
the electroscope represents the high
concentration because it has more electrons .
Charging by conduction , the electrons from
the high concentration go to the low
concentration.Electrons from the electroscope
would jump into the positively charged object .
The electroscope would lose electrons which
makes it positively charged .
Before Conduction After Conduction
3. Charging by Induction
( Charging without contact )
- The process of charging the uncharged
object by bringing another charged object
near to it, but not touching it.
- substance that does not transfer electric
charge
Example :
Consider an uncharged metal sphere
and negatively charged plastic rod. If we
bring the negatively charged plastic rod near
to uncharged sphere as shown in below figure
, charge separation occurs.
The positive charges in the sphere get
attracted towards the plastic rod and move to
one end of the sphere that is closer to the
plastic rod. Similarly, negative charges get
repelled from the plastic rod and move to
another end of the sphere that is farther away
from the plastic rod. Thus, the charges in the
sphere rearrange themselves in a way that all
the positive charges are nearer to the plastic
rod and all the negative charges are farther
away from it.
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 If the two charges have the same sign, the
force on either charge is directed away from
the other, they repel each other (figure a and
b) .
If this sphere is connected to a ground
through the wire, free electrons of the sphere
at farther end flow to the ground. Thus, the
sphere becomes positively charged by If
induction. If the plastic rod is removed , all
the positive charges spread uniformly in the
sphere.

COULOMB’S LAW
the two charges have opposite signs, the force
- The force of attraction or repulsion between on one is directed toward the other
two small charged bodies is directly
proportional to the product of the two
charges and inversely proportional to the
square of the distance between them .
- electric force increases as charge (q)
increases and electric force decreases as
distance (r ) increases. Example :

Q 2 /¿ 1. What is the magnitude and direction of the

F=k ¿ Q 1 2
¿ force on a charge of −4 x 10−9 C that is 5 cm
r
from a charge of −5 x 10−2 C ?
Where :

F = electric force ( Newtons)

Q1∧Q2 = electric charge ( Coulombs)
r = the center to center distance between the
charges (meters )
2
9 m
k =¿oulomb’s constant = 8.99 x 10 N 2 ≈
C
2
9 m
9 x 10 N 2
C

Superposition Principle of Charges 2. Three charged particles are arranged in a

line, as shown below . Calculate the net
The direction of the static electric force electrostatic force on particle 3 (the on the
one point charge exerts on another is always right) due to the other two charges.
along the line joining the two charges, and
depends on whether the charges have the
same sign.

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3. Calculate the net electrostatic force on
charge shown in Figure below .

Q1=−86 μC
Q2=50 μC
Q3=65 μC

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